Brig. Gen. Fred Buckingham of Punta Gorda, Fla. is pictured at his desk at Little Rock Air Force base in Little Rock, Ark. He was the commander of the 314th Airlift Wing at the base when the picture was taken in 1994 shortly before retiring. Photo provided

Lt. Fred Buckingham flew his C-130 “Hercules,” four-engine transport plane to Vietnam just in time for the North Vietnamese Army’s siege of the Marine base at Khe Sanh, the biggest single battle of the war, and the enemy’s massive Tet Offensive, where every major city and many American military bases were attacked in a countrywide coordinated assault. Read the rest of this entry »